ok guys been lurking in the shadows here for a couple days. I am from the heart of wood burning country. have never seen a coal burner let alone seen one in action. So I recently picked up a little potbelly stove that I had planned on putting in my garage (28-28sq) to burn wood in. Very unsatisfied with the wood. Eats tons of wood and constantly having to feed it. Thinking I want to pick up some coal and give it a whirl. Purpose of stove isn't for 24/7 burn just nights if garage and prolly weekends im home.

this stove does have 13 stars on top as well. Dont really know what it is. have seen one other picture online with no help identifing. anyway the stove is pretty leaky. am I going to need to worry about overheating it? ash door leaks pretty bad, and where the burn pot meets the ash pan has some pretty good leaks. burning wood the flu is around 400-500.As I said I dont know anything about coal. What would be the safest to burn in this little stove?I think I have a pretty good grasp on how to seal the stove. wax paper and stove gasket on ash pan? and cord around the burn pot?anything else you guys can help with sure would be helpfull.

also any Idea on what this this is worth guy is asking $100 I told him id like to try it out and see if it was going to work for what i need. Thinking pretty hard about giving it back. but really like the look of it dont mind a little tending if it puts off good safe heat.TDISD

I tried a coal stove in the shop as well as a pellet stove and went back to a wood burner for that location.

The coal stove is great steady heat and doesn't require a lot of work but it prefers to run for long periods. I would not be in the garage everyday so it did not suit my needs.

The pellet stove was way under powered for the shop here and just doesn't crank the heat like coal or wood.

In my case I am in the shop a night or two through the week and almost always on the weekend and in my case the wood stove suits me great in the shop. I have a NC13 and it brings the temp up quickly, I also get long burns from it since it has the secondary burns and is pretty efficient. I have at least 5 cords cut split and stacked here of locust, mulberry, and some maple so I should be good for several years, plus a few more cords I need to split and stack. My shop isn't very big it is only 20x20.

Those are pretty leaky stoves, at least all the ones I've seen. I think you could do better for the price, but on the other hand, it's not that much money... You didn't show any pictures on the inside, but it probably has some kind of grate system in it. Should burn coal fine. I didn't see a damper in your flue, that stove needs a damper. I also agree for occasional use, a wood stove is easier. Coal likes to run for long times, not really a start it up and turn it off kind of heat...

you are correct it is indeed very leaky. i havent had much time to seal it up, but I am pretty confident that i can put some fiberglass rope on the ash pan door and the feeder door. I think I will also need some putty where the burn pot meets the ash pan(if that makes any sense). I do not have a damper but I will get one ASAP. It does have a grate system in the stove, but it does not have any fire brick or anything like that. Just the in side of the cast. as far as the burn time I wouldn't mind it running long periods of time as long as I am confident that it is safe. The dog stays in the garage most days in the winter(spoiled rotten). being a full time firefighter it would be fairly embarassing to have my house burn down so saftey is #1. will try all of this before attempting any coal burns, and not real confident that i am going to be able to get any coal around here (western south dakota). can't say that I have ever seen any for sale.

have found quite a bit of info on this sight about sealing stove that are similar to this, but any advice or links to a good thread would be great

Get the red high temp silicon and run a bead on the ash door door edges. Cover the opening with wax paper and close the door. Clean up any silicon squeezed out. This will seal the lower door pretty well.

Don't worry about the upper door, leave it alone. A bit of air leak here is good.

You also have to check the shutter in the lower door to make sure it seals well.

You can check with your local Hudderite coloney if they use pea coal that might work for you. If they use stoker coal that will be to small to use i think.That coal will be sub bit burns a lot like woodI know that in Isanty MN there is a place (763-434-8887) that sells hard coal that will work but the only shipping option that is resonable for cost wise is spee-dee you can check for shipping cost to you LTL. We need a coal supply here in SD if you find one please let me know and good luck.